Bulls may have bonus games in new Sun Dome

After going a whole season without a game in the Sun Dome, USF men's basketball fans could get a few extra home games on campus this coming season.

USF is looking into hosting a four-team, round-robin tournament in mid-November, an event that would allow the Bulls to have as many as nine nonconference home games in their renovated home, up from the traditional total of seven. USF will wait until the Big East football schedule is finalized to make sure there aren't direct conflicts for fans, and promoters are still in the process of finalizing the rest of the field for the event.

USF has had seven nonconference home games each of the last two seasons, but they've actually had as few as five as recently as 2009. The NCAA allows teams to play 29 regular-season games, or 27 plus up to four in an exempt tournament. USF would have three games in its tournament, giving the Bulls 30 games.

Even with the Big East shifting to 15 basketball schools in 2012-13, the league is expected to stick with 18 conference games, with each team playing every school once and having four "mirror" opponents they play both home and away. USF had unprecedented success at home this season, going 14-2 in home games, including a 7-0 mark in nonconference.

USF played its nonconference home games at three different venues in 2011, with one at the Lakeland Center, three at the University of Tampa's Martinez Center and the remainder at Tampa Bay Times Forum. The Sun Dome has been undergoing a $35 million renovation, expected to be completed in the next month or two.

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